A Furry Friend
by The QAS
Summary: For thousands of years dogs have been know to soften even the hardest of hearts. But, what's the world's youngest criminal mastermind going to say when he finds a stray dog in front of the Fowl Manor? My 1st Artemis Fowl fic! RxR
1. Chapter 1

**AN/: All right, this idea just randomly popped into my head, because I love puppies. It takes place between books #1 and #2—so he's twelve or thirteen years old. I'm not planning on making this a very long story, maybe 3-5 chapters with an epilogue. So, now that you're done listening to me rant, enjoy the story :)**

**Disclaimer-I don't own anything here**

Artemis Fowl the Second did not have many friends. In fact, despite Butler and Juliet, he didn't have any friends. After all, who needs friends when you're the world's youngest criminal mastermind?

Every since his mother's return to sanity, Artemis had been forced to go to school. _School._ _Him_, Artemis Fowl, evil genius, attending an actual school. With actual children. Sitting in an actual classroom. The horror! Can you imagine?

This is why Artemis was ecstatic when it was time for the summer holidays. At last freedom!

Juliet came to pick him up. She was all excited about how she finally got her driver's license. Artemis pretended to listen to her gloat, but in reality, he was thinking about much bigger things. He has less than three months to catch up on research. His father was out there somewhere. _Alive_. Artemis could feel it. And he was determine to get him back, no mater what. Because he would find him. He **would**.

* * *

Two and a half hours later they arrived at Fowl Manor. And Artemis had an odd feeling someone was watching him. He tried to shake it off. The idea was preposterous! Who would be mad enough to try to sneak into Fowl Manor? The castle may have been old, but it was installed with the newest, most sophisticated, and most expensive alarm system in all of Ireland. No human with the slightest bit of sanity would-wait a minute… Artemis felt a lump in his throat. What if it wasn't a human? Several months ago, Artemis kidnapped Officer Holly Short from the LEP, a fairy police force. Artemis had tracked them down don by translating the fairy Bible. He managed to actually trick the LEP into getting their gold. But in the end, he returned half of it to Holly, in exchange for her helping his mother.

Could it be true? Was the LEP still following him? He had won the gold. Fair and square. Their Bible said so, that if a human managed to successfully con them of their gold, then he could keep it.

"Well?" Juliet said impatiently. "Are you coming or not?"

Artemis had forgotten that he was still sitting in the limo. He got out of the vehicle and looked behind him, just to be sure. He didn't see anyone, so it was most likely nothing. Yes, that's it, Artemis thought, it was probably nothing.

As it turned out, Artemis was right about it not being a human that was following him, but it was no fairy either.

* * *

Mrs. Fowl and Butler weren't home. They had gone out shopping for the evening—or, Mrs. Fowl was shopping, Butler was carrying all the bags. Artemis was on his laptop on the second floor. Juliet was watching wrestling on TV two floors up.

There was a sort of scratching sound at the door.

"Juliet, can you get that?" called Artemis.

"Sure, I'll get it," she muttered, "I am a lot closer to it."

Juliet opened the door. Nothing.

"Hello?" she asked, confused.

WOOF!

"Oh…my…lord…" Juliet gasped. "Artemis, get down here!"

"What is it, Juliet?" asked Artemis, once he arrived. He glanced down to see what Juliet was looking at, and standing in front of the door was a dog; a golden retriever, Artemis suspected. It stood there, staring at them, wagging its tail madly.

"So?" Artemis asked. "It's just a dog, what's you point?"

"He's SO CUTE!" Juliet squealed, petting the dog. It jumped up and licked her face. Normally, if anybody got this close to her, she would punch them. But instead, she hugged the dog. "Aw! He likes me!" she exclaimed. "We can't just leave him here! The poor thing. Doggies need love."

"No, it is not our dog, therefore, not our responsibility. It can find its own way home."

"But what if he doesn't have a home? What if he's a stray? Come on, Artemis, can we just keep him for one night? Please?"

Artemis glanced back at the animal. Its fur was extremely filthy, and heavily matted; on top of that, the dog looked starving. You could literally see its ribs sticking out, a gruesome sight. Most likely it hadn't had a proper meal in days, or weeks. Artemis couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of pity for the dog. "Fine," he said, trying to keep his face expressionless, "he can stay for one night, and one night only. Is that understood?"

But Juliet wasn't paying attention, she was too busy happy-dancing. "Okay. Yeah, sure. Whatever."

Artemis sighed. _What have I done?_ He thought miserably.

**I'm sorry if they're OOC, I've only read books one and two, and am only on like the third chapter of book #3. I really want to know what people think of this. This is my first Artemis Fowl fanfic, and to get some feedback would be great. So please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you JenaveaBaton and Bookfanx100 for reviewing, it really meant a lot to me. :)**

**Now here's the next chapter!**

**WARNING: Extreme puppy cuteness**

* * *

Artemis was typing on the computer. "Fowl Starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtt ugfgbdftff".

He looked down. The dog had nudged him with its nose. The nerve of that thing! Nobody touched him. He was Artemis Fowl!

Artemis glared at the creature. "Go away. You are no use here, I am trying to do something very important. Now, if you will excuse me, I have reaserch to do. Go chase your tail or roll in the dirt, or whatever you stupid dogs do." Of course Artemis knew the animal could not possibly understand him, he noticed the dog was looking at him very seriously. It had listened contently to Artemis's lechure, even though he clearly had no idea what he was talking about. It cocked its head in consern, as if it was trying to comprehend everything he had just told him.

Artemis sighed. "Never mind." He continued his reaserch, when the dog actually put his head in his lap! That's it. It crossed the line. Those were costom-made disigner pants, and now they had dog fur all over them!

"Look at what you've done!"

The dog whimpered, not knowing what it had done wrong. Slowly, he came over to Artemis, and licked his hand in apology. Artemis was so shocked, at fist he forgot to react. True, it was a fact that dog toungues had less bacteria than those of humans, but that was still no excuse for it to slobber all over him. He pulled his hand away in alarm.

"JULIET!" he yelled. Artemis was not much of a yeller. He usully kept a straight tone of voice so that others would take him seriously, but he had had it with this dog!

"This better be good. The guy was in a half nelson!" Juliet complained.

"I want this...this beast out of my sight!"

"Too bad. He's a puppy, they're curious. Let him go where he wants. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a wrestling match to attend." She went back upstairs.

He turned to glare at the dog. But when he looked, Artemis noticed that it looked sorry. Those big chocolate brown eyes were hard to be mad at. He had a strange tingling feeling in his stomach. Not unplesant. Just, strange.

_What am doing?_ he thought. _What's happening to me? I am Artemis Fowl! I am not weak!_ But he couldn't make himself look away. The way the animal looked at him, it was actually kind of...well, _cute_.

The dog once again came up and licked his hand. But this time, Artemis did not pull away.

* * *

**Aw! Nobody can resist a puppy face. **

**Sorry this chapter was short, but I couldn't wait to post it! I'll try to make the next longer.**

**I need help. What should I name the dog? You reviewers decide. I'll take the names into consideration. So, let me know your name ideas in your reviews. **

**~The QAS**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the name ideas guys, I tried to combine them all ;)**

**Thanks to all of you guys that reviewed-or even just read my story. It really means a lot to me :) **

**Now here's the next chapter! **

**rxr!**

**

* * *

**

Juliet went to the pet store to get some dog food and treats.

While it was eating, she said, "I printed out some fliers in case anybody's looking for him."

"Good," replied Artemis, "the sooner we get rid of that thing, the better." Artemis could no longer stand that dog. Batting its cute puppy eyes. Twitching his cute puppy nose. Pawing his cute puppy paw. Cute! Cute! Cute! Artemis had had enough with the cuteness! And he had actually fallen for it. Imagine. What would his mother say to this? What would Butler say? What wold his father say? His father. He was running behind in reaserch, he knew only had a few months, and this dog was distracting him! Artemis fought back tears. Great! Now he was getting emotional, what was this dog doing to him? Soon, he would be like those poeple on the soap oprahs his mother used to watch.

"Shhh! Don't talk like that in front of him, he has ears, you know!"

"Just because it can hear me, does not mean he can understand me."

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I need you to hand out the fliers."

"Why me?"

"Because I have to give him a bath."

Artemis was worried. He could not be seen in public handing out fliers for a missing dog. It would ruin his reputation! People would think he was weak. He could just see the next newspaper headlines: _Artemis Fowl, criminal mastermind, helps a lost puppy? _

"Just have them call us, and you give them the dog. Nobody can see me. And as soon as it is over with, change our number."

"Fine. But you're handing out the fliers."

"No! People will see me!"

"And, of course, he'll need a name..."

"A name? Juliet, we're trying to get rid of it, remember?"

"I know, but, just in case."

* * *

After Artemis handed out the fliers, he went to his "thinking room" to meditate. He needed to get rid of this animal before mother and Butler returned. Artemis wasn't too worried about them, knowing his mother, she would drag Butler all around Europe. But this dog was a nuisance.

"WOOF!"

"AH!" Atremis didn't scared easily, esspecially not petty things like someone sneeking up on him. How did it get in anyway? And so quietly? Surely if it knock down the door Artemis would've heard it. He turned around, the door was open, but Artemis know he had closed it.

Artemis took the dog outside of the room, and watched him closely. It stood up on its hine legs, and put one paw on the knob, it then used its mouth to open the closed door. Artemis stared at the retriever in awe. Was it possible? Did this animal actually have some sort of intelligence? Even he had to admit, no human under one could open a door, even if they were tall enough. And how had he known the knob opened the door? He must've watched Artemis do it himself. But that still did not explain how it remained so quiet.

Artemis looked at the animal curiously. "What else can you do?" he wondered. "Sit," he ordered. The dog sat. "Shake." It held out its paw. "Other paw." The dog obeyed, looking at Artemis waiting patiently for the next command.

Artemis had the dog do over a dozen tricks. It had obviously been trained. But Artemis decided to see just how smart this dog really was. It caught on surprisingly quickly, and learned each one almost perfectly after only a couple of tries. Even Artemis had to admit, it was mildly impressive.

* * *

"So?" Juliet said later. "Have you come up with a name for it yet?"

"Yes. I have decided to name him Apollo Archimedes Darwin Franklin Galileo Edison Einstein Fowl."

"...Does he have a nickname?" asked Juliet.

"That **was** his nickname."


	4. Chapter 4

**I named the dog after famous smart people and a Greek god (who coincidentally happens to be Artemis's twin brother)

* * *

**

Mrs. Fowl dialed the number to Fowl Manor. Nobody answered, so Angeline left a message.

"_Hello, Artemis or Juliet, this is Angeline. I have just recieved an emergency call that my sister is in the hospital. She will be fine, it's nothing serious, I just want to visit her. So I flew to Canada. I should be back in two days, tops. Butler is going to stay with me for a little while, he's leaving _tomorrow_. Juliet, Arty, I trust that you two can take care of yourselves until then_."

It was a shame nobody was there to pick up, as they would later find out.

* * *

There was no more time for stalling, Artemis decided. He needed to find his father. The seconds were ticking by, and Artemis knew they would not keep his father alive forever. He needed to act quickly.

Artemis set everything he needed on the table: his high-speed laptop; paper and pens; and of course, his flashdrive...where was his flashdrive? Had he lost it? No! Impossible, Artemis had a very organized system, he knew exactly where everything was. He did not "lose" things, he was Artemis Fowl! Yet again, there was a first time for everything. But Artemis remained stubborn as ever, refusing to believe the fact that he lost his flashdrive. If he didn't have it, then there was one more place it could be...

"JULIET!" he called.

"WHAT?"

"HERE I'LL JUST COME UP, IT'LL BE EASIER TO TALK."

"OKAY."

Artemis came up the staircase. "Have you seen my flashdrive 10000?"

"Um...yeah, I think so. You left it on your desk, so I put it away for you-you're welcome." Artemis couldn't believe this!

"Where did you put it?" he asked.

"I dunno, in a drawer?"

"Juliet, my office is filled with hundreds of thousands of drawers filled with hundreds of thousands of files."

"What was so special about it anyway? It's just a flashdrive, you have hundreds of them."

"That one had all my information on Russia!"

"Russia?"

"That's where father's being held, I just know it!"

"Oops."

"Yeah, 'oops'."

* * *

"Okay, I'll look over here, and you'll look over there, " Artemis said. "Do you remember reaching up to put it in, or bending down?"

"...Bending down I think."

"Good, so we shall search the lower drawers first."

"Got it."

The two began frantically looking through drawer after drawer, file after files, cabinet after cabinet.

* * *

Meanwhile Apollo Archimedes Darwin Newton Galileo Edison Einstein Fowl, was bored. He decided to go find his masters.

Apollo found opening strange holes, but before he could get a good look at them, they would put their odd looking paws in and start moving thing around, then they would close it and open another one. The all seemed very peculiar to him.

He came up to his smaller master, the one who answered to "Artemis". Apollo tapped the boy with his paw.

Artemis turned around. "Not now, Apollo. I don't have time to play now."

The dog looked at his master, not understanding what he had just said. But Apollo could sense the unhappiness in his voice.

So he went to go find his other master, the one called "Juliet". Juliet was a female, and bigger than Artemis.

He found her not far away, and tapped her with his paw, but he was given the same response.

Why were they so upset? Apollo wondered. What was wrong? Did they have fleas, perhaps? That sure made him angry. But that didn't seem to be the case. Apollo looked at the two masters, trying to understand what it was they were doing. Artemis and Juliet were going through those holes, like they were digging for something they lost. Apollo remembered the time he once lost a bone, so he had to dig holes to find it. Was that it? Were they looking for something? Apollo decided to help them find it.

So it had to be something that had both of their scents on it, and they had to be very strong. Apollo noticed one of the "holes" had been left open. Going over to investigate further, he found an object in it. It was small, dark in color, and did not taste good. The object didn't seem to have much of a smell on its own, but had picked up other scents from its surroundings. Something told Apollo, that somehow, this was what his masters had been looking for. He didn't know how he knew. He just did. So Apollo, taking one last glance at it, put it in his mouth and took it to them. _That's a funny looking bone_, he thought.

* * *

**Oooooh! What will Butler do when he sees the dog? How will Artemis react when Apollo finds his flashdrive? Find out next! **

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, look! Apollo found something!" Juliet said.

"Let me see that!" Artemis unhinged the dog's jaw. And gasped in amazement. "My flash drive! Bad boy, Apollo! Juliet how could you be so stupid?"

"But I didn't - -"

The doorbell rang. "I'LL GET IT!" Artemis said, still seething. He opened. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" he demanded.

"Nice to see you, too," came the snarky reply. Artemis looked. A little girl who couldn't have been older than ten was standing there glaring at him. Standing next to her, was a little boy who looked about three. He appeared to be attempting to hide behind thr girl. "Nice house by the way. It took me about three hours to undo your secerity. I've never seen an alarm system that uses lazers before." She had a slight French accent.

Three hours? He made a mental note to change the codes. Most people couldn't figure it out at all. Even Artemis was mildly impressed. "What do you want?" he asked the girl.

She rolled her eyes. "We were on vacation in Dublin, and my little brother's dog ran away. We saw the poster and came over here. So do you have him or not?"

"Yeah. I'll go get him." Artemis ran into the hall. "APOLLO!" The golden retriever ran forward. He rubbed his head against Artemis's leg to show his affection. Artemis stopped. He looked at that dog. The dog looked at him. Artemis didn't know what to do. He was finally getting rid of the dog; this was what he had wanted all along. So why did he feel so empty inside.

He realized that he didn't want to get rid of the dog after all. He could always hide him and claim that it was the wrong dog. He could give Apollo the best life ever. Artemis looked around the mansion. This was no enviorment for a dog. He sighed. He was going to have to do the right thing now, wasn't he?

He returned to the door with Apollo. "Here you go," he said.

"Mon chien!" the boy cried, running to Apollo. There were tears in his eyes. "Alaire, viens!" the dog ran towards him, licking his face.

The girl smiled. "Thank you," she turned to her brother. "Allons, Beau. Père sera inquiet si nous ne reviendrons bientôt. Le jet est à l'extérieur." With that, the three left.

Artemis could not find the words to describe what he was feeling. He had already lost his father, but now the dog was gone, too. He had only had him for about a day and a half, but it felt like he had known him for years.

Artemis then did something he rarely did: he went to the sofa and cried.

Butler was sure surprised when he returned later that day to see Artemis on the couch sobbing.

That day, Artemis Fowl had made a friend.

* * *

**I believe this is my fourth story that used French in it.**

**As I said before, I do not speak French, except for the two months or so I studied at school. So I used google translator. **

**Alaire means "joyful" in French.**

**. . . Yep, I think that pretty much covers it. I actually wasn't planning on updating this story, but for some reason I decided to. Sorry for the super long wait. Anyway, please review! I will be writing an epilogue soon.**


	6. Epilogue

**Yes, I am aware that Artemis crying was a bit OC. **

**When Butler had returned later that day, I said that he saw Artemis sobbing. I believe that I used the wrong word. By "sobbing", I meant Artemis's equivalent of sobbing, which is basically one tear per minute. Also, Butler had returned from Canada about thirty minutes or so after Artemis had given the dog back (remember, he had left a while ago.) **

**In the Author's note of my first chapter, I said that I was only on book #3. By now I have read all seven. **

**Please note that if you have not read book #5, you will not understand this chapter.**

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**Epilogue**

**Paris, France**

**2006**

Artemis paced back and fourth in front of the café; Minerva was six minutes late. Artemis despised those who were tardy. Who did she think she was?

"Hello, Artemis," said a voice. Artemis turned around. Minerva Paradizo stood before him. She looked just as he remembered her. Her shoulder-length, curly, blonde hair blew slightly in the wind. Her large eyes seemed to look directly into his soul.

Following Minerva was an old dog. His once-pure-golden fur was sprinkled with bits of grey flecks. The muzzle was almost completely white with age, but it still wagged its tail happily.

"I didn't know you had a dog," Artemis said.

"I don't. This is Beau's dog, Alaire. He's visiting our grandparents in London, and the dog does not do well on airplanes. I wound up taking care of him," she blinked, looking at Artemis kind of sideways. "Oh, Artemis is it really you?"

Artemis smirked. "It is." Three years ago, Artemis, Holly, and their daemon friends had been transported to an alternate dimension, where they had to save an entire species of daemon. Everyone had believed he was dead when he returned several years later, without having aged at all. Minerva, especially, was astounded when he called her that morning.

Minerva threw her arms around Artemis, embracing him in a tight hug. The dog bounced around, seeming to want to get into the action.

Artemis studied the dog. There was something about him . . . "He looks familiar," said Artemis.

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Well, he should. You returned Alaire to Beau and me four years ago. Don't you remember?"

Now he did. How could he have forgotten? He hadn't thought about that dog in years!

Alaire looked up at Artemis and cocked his head. The dog wagged his tail happily. Even Minerva smiled a bit.

Dogs can change lives. Animals have the ability to make differences that we humans (or elves) cannot possibly imagine.

If you rub a dog's belly and give him a treat, you will have a friend for life.

* * *

**The reason why it said 2006 is because of the fact that the first book was published in 2001. Artemis was fourteen when he had gone to the other dimension to save the daemons, which meant it was about two years after the first book. Artemis returned about three years later. That would mean that it takes place in 2006. **

**I hoped you liked this story. Please review to tell me what you think.**


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